4 Biblical Lessons for Children about How to Vote

Election politics are in the air and clogging nearly every pore of our ubiquitous masks. In fact there is nothing like a national election to rip off a few of our face coverings and reveal the real person that was in hiding. We always get ripsnortingly contentious as we argue our convictions and struggle to find hope for the future of our republic. We fear for our lives, fortunes and sacred honor as we view the approach of what appears to be a tidal wave of humanism and socialism rolling toward us.

So before we venture into those four promised lessons let me note that our outlook ought to be hopeful instead of fearful. The common biblical phrase ‘fear not’ ought to be our constant thought. Christian people, trusting in God’s perfect providence are not living fear-based lives. It is imperative for us Christians to have a hopeful outlook for the future regardless of whatever happens with elections and politics. Our Godly work extends beyond any political election. “Trust in the Lord and do good. Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness” the Psalmist encourages us. Psalm 78 tells us to teach our children to four generations. We have to think and plan long term for God promises to bless His people and the work of our hands and lives. Our God will never leave us or forsake us. So with that reminder…

Where do we start?

We can note that politics relating to voting are typically confounding, especially since we have not been taught biblical rules for how to vote. The fact that many churches have dismissed two thirds of the Bible (the Old Testament) as being useful in informing our minds about Godly duty and morality has hobbled and hampered God’s people leaving us with minimal direction or principles in deciding how to elect public officials – civil government. Plus, our predilection to separate God and government keeps us from applying New Testament wisdom as well. Hence, by dint of our own theological bents, we have disqualified all biblical help regarding the vote in civil government. I propose a biblically based restart.

With Moses the people of God were instructed in how to elect righteous, God-pleasing men as judges. Under that civil government structure of the judges, Israel experienced the greatest freedom of any nation on earth. Though the nation of Israel squandered and mismanaged that Godly liberty the system held together for almost four hundred years. That would be about the same length of time America has been in existence from the landing of the pilgrims until now.

Even though we criticize Israel’s journey under the judges we ought to maintain a sense of proportion in understanding that they lived under that Mosaic system for considerably longer than we have survived under our Constitution. It was their own rebellious and disobedient spirit that took them from that Godly system and into the era of the mostly tyrannical and wicked kings (1 Samuel 8). We are Israel now. We are rebellious and disobedient teetering on the brink of that next logical step of putting ourselves under tyrants and tyranny – kings if you please.

But what if we changed our behavior, teaching our children to vote with the same principles and ideals as Moses taught under the Judges? What if we voted only for Godly rule and rejected the fear based pleas and principles promoted by our humanistic society?

Four Principles for Godly Voting

The law of Moses taught four basic principles for Godly voting. Exodus 18:21 instructs us:

“Furthermore, you shall select out of all the people able men who fear God, men of truth, those who hate dishonest gain; and you shall place these over them as leaders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties and of tens.

1. Choose Able Men

The first quality of a righteous civil servant is that he must be an ‘able’ man. This refers to his ability to perform the basic duties of his office. We could ask if he has the physical and mental ability to do the work the office demands. We could also think about his ability in terms of his philosophy (read theology) of life. Is he able to pursue just and righteous policy given his theological perspective? Is he able to overcome personal prejudices and work toward biblically sound law? Or are his convictions going to drive him in directions antithetical to biblical religion? We need to elect people who are able in every way.

2. Choose Men Who Fear God

Secondly we could teach our kids to vote for men who fear God. That may seem obvious but we often decide this won’t work since the candidates offered often don’t meet this qualification. What if we do not know if he fears God? Or how are we going to find out if he fears God. What does it mean to fear God? Is there a short definition or a simple test to find out? Perhaps not, but at least this command gives us an important point to research or ask about. According to this biblical idea we would only vote for a person who met this requirement.

Maybe we, the church, need to train up godly candidates who are both able and who fear God. Perhaps there is an active element to all this voting and public office seeking that involves Christian people working to train up candidates and then elect them to office. Maybe our vision has been too small for too long. Our friend Dr. Paul Michael Raymond and his son Christian have been working toward this very end in their area in Appomattox, Virginia. They help qualified candidates run for office in northern Virginia. Maybe we could imitate their behavior in our local areas. After all, if we want walnut lumber we have to plant walnut trees and if we want bread we have to plant wheat.  

3. Select Men of Truth

Thirdly we can vote for men of truth as the book of Exodus instructs. Both big parties in our nation seem to have problems putting up candidates who meet this criterion. We have come to expect lies and liars to fill the void left when honest men left the occupation years ago. As in all areas of life when Christian people do not “occupy till I come” as Jesus commanded then godless people occupy every office, judge’s bench, and sheriff’s post.

Godless people do not know how to righteously fulfill their duties. Thus the need for Christian people of truth to prepare for service in civil government positions is very great. What a grand vision for a young person to prepare for service and election into civil government! God’s command is firm “select men of truth” so such is our duty.

4. Vote for Men Who Hate Dishonest Gain

Fourthly, we are commanded to vote for men who hate dishonest gain. Admittedly, no candidate is likely to announce that he is in favor of dishonest gain. That announcement would be astonishingly forthright but bad for winning an election. Nevertheless, God expects us to discern if a candidate for office hates dishonest gain. Many people who run for civil government office have a background of which voters are already aware. At least if a candidate has a published history of dishonest gain we can know not to vote for that person. We might do well to remember the Apostle Peter’s words to Simon the magician who sought the power of the Holy Spirit with an offer to pay for that power:

Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was bestowed through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, saying, “Give this authority to me as well, so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money! “You have no part or portion in this matter, for your heart is not right before God.

Acts 8:18-21

Fallen people often seek dishonest gain but we ought not reward them for it with positions of influence or authority.

In Conclusion

We ought to get our convictions from Scripture instead of the surrounding culture. Our humanist and idolatrous culture teaches us that we ought to vote based on fear and pragmatic considerations. For many of us fear is a big motivation to vote for a person that is biblically unqualified because that candidate is less repulsive than the only other option. As Christians we have agreed that we must vote for unqualified people in order to have a voice.

Consider how different might our voice be if the only way any political candidate could get our Christian vote was if he were rightly qualified? Maybe we are evaluating the power of our vote incorrectly. What if God is right? What if God is right in everything? He is. Hence, we ought to teach our children to vote only for candidates that meet the biblical qualifications for public office. That is our wisdom and duty and an important step in our return to justice and freedom.